


Halo

by alliekar17



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 10:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5704312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alliekar17/pseuds/alliekar17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All the times Hope thought Kelley looked like an angel</p>
            </blockquote>





	Halo

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! this is my first USWNT fic so let me know how I do? thank you

Her eyes felt heavy, like she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. She didn’t want to open them; the rhythm of breathing and the weight of the blankets was too much to give up.

  
Until she heard a soft snore, that is. It was worth it to see the scrunched up, freckled face of Kelley O’Hara the first thing in the morning. She lifted her head out of the crook of the younger woman’s neck to get a better look.

  
Hope had never been the kind of woman to stay. She’d always dreaded the wake up after a night after passion because she would either have to wake up early to leave before the other person was awake or kick them out of her bed.

  
This time she wanted to do neither.

Because Kelley was different-and she was different because of Kelley. She rarely took someone home. This time she was grateful she got to see this sight.

  
Light brown hair sticking up in all different directions, her nose twitching when Hope’s breath moved a flyaway hair against it. The way she kind of looks angry in her sleep when it happens.

  
Hope can’t resist kissing it.

  
The moment her lips touch the defender’s nose, she hears a contented sigh and watches intently as hazel eyes blink slowly open.

  
She’s met with the warmest smile imaginable. Hope can’t resist smiling back. She watches as the sun shines through the curtains of the window behind Kelley and how it lights her hair.

  
Hope swears she sees a halo.

* * *

 

Hope decides Kelley deserves a real date. She calls her up after another restless night. Kelley answers after just two rings.

  
“Hope? Is everything okay?” Her voice is groggy, but laced with concern. Hope turns to her bedside clock and realizes just how early it is. She winces.

  
“Yeah, sorry. I was just wondering if you’d like to get coffee sometime?” She doesn’t outright say date, so she really shouldn’t be surprised when Kelley doesn’t take it as such.

  
“Of course. I’ll meet you in twenty minutes in the lobby,” Kelley said and before she could hang up the phone Hope responds.

  
“No! I’ll pick you up at your room,” She tries not to sound too desperate, but she wants this to be perfect. For them at least.

Kelley agrees and they say their goodbyes.

It was one of their off days. They hadn’t seen each other much after their night together, and she’s glad that Kelley didn’t insist on making it a bigger deal than it was. She’s glad she decided to call. She knows Kelley deserves her all, and she knows she can’t let the younger girl go.

  
She gets up out of the bed, not caring about how loud she was because Carli could sleep through anything. She spends a little more time picking out her outfit and doing her makeup. Even if Kelley doesn’t know it’s a date, she’s going to act like it’s one.

  
She knocks softly on Kelley’s hotel room door because she knows what Alex is like when she gets woken up, and she’d rather Kelley not feel the wrath before Hope gets to do all the things she’s wanted to with the other woman.

  
Kelley greets her with the biggest grin and it calms Hope’s nerves.

  
They walk down the block to the coffee shop the girls had discovered their first day in town. Hope hesitates before reaching for the other woman’s hand. She feels Kelley’s eyes on her but she just carries on the conversation like nothing was out of the ordinary was happening and laces their fingers together.

  
They reach the cafe and Kelley releases her fingers and tells Hope to choose a table. She watches as the short defender strikes up a conversation with the guy taking her order and Hope is surprised when she doesn’t feel the familiar pang of jealousy pooling in the stomach. She watches and realizes that Kelley’s ability to get anyone talking and make anyone feel comfortable is one of the reasons she loves her.

  
Kelley comes back and joins her at the high-top table next to the window. Hope tasted her coffee and and smiles at the notion that the defender knows exactly the way she likes it.

  
The sun peaks around a cloud and blinds Hope. All she sees is the face of Kelley O’Hara in the middle of the light and she says,

  
“I want you to be mine.”

  
She’s breaking all her rules.

* * *

 

After camp was over, they went their separate ways. Hope was in Seattle, Kelley was in Cali.

  
That didn’t deter them though.

  
Their goodbye had been sad and sappy. They’d promised to call and text all the time. They’d be able to see each other at the next game. 

  
Kelley had shown her how to work facetime, and after a long workout, she finally sat down on her couch and pressed the video camera button on Kelley’s contact.

  
She smiled as Kelley’s face came into view. It looked like she was in bed, but Hope couldn’t tell as it was dark and grainy.

  
“Hey Hopey!” Kelley greeted.

  
“Hey, Kels,” Hope answered. She thought briefly about chastising Kelley for calling her ‘Hopey’, but decided anything the other woman called her would be okay. “I can barely see you.”

  
Without question, Kelley turns and flips the switch for her bedside lamp and moves it so it’s shining just behind her face.

  
Hope smiles once again. “I’ve missed you. You look beautiful,” Hope says without thinking before it leaves her mouth. It hits her that Kelley is the only one she wants-that she’ll ever want.

  
And the way that Kelley smiles at the compliment makes her feel like she’s floating. Hope thinks that falling in love feels nothing like falling. Maybe gravity had forgotten about her.

  
She’s in love and she can’t wait to say it.

* * *

 

Hope taps her foot nervously as she waits. She doesn’t like the crowds of people surrounding her at the airport. The sign she’s holding makes her uncomfortable too.

People stare at her and give her understanding smiles as they walk past.  
Maybe the sign wasn’t the greatest idea after all. Or maybe it was the way she wrote how many days she’s waited for her girlfriend.

  
She’s brought out of her thoughts as she starts seeing people walk out of the terminal. Excitement spills out of her. She catches a glimpse of unruly brown hair and her voice that she thinks says, “Excuse me, thank you, I’ve got to see my very beautiful girlfriend and give her a big sm-”

  
The voice stops as their eyes connect and Hope’s breath catches. Her feet start moving and they don’t stop until she’s face to face with the woman of her dreams. She doesn’t hesitate to drop her sign and pick the younger woman up into her arms, bury her face in her neck, and hold Kelley’s head to her own.

  
Strong legs wrap around her waist and she doesn’t think about it, just whispers, “I’m so in love with you,” into Kelley’s ears.

  
She hears clapping in the background but on focuses on Kelley’s voice as she says, “I’ve been waiting so long to tell you that I love you too.”

  
Hope thinks that just maybe, angels can look like the people you love.

  
She’s never been happier.

* * *

 

She knew she had made the right decision to get the surgery. Her shoulder was painful to play with and Kelley had repeatedly told her that it was okay. She wasn’t invincible. It wasn’t wek for her to go through with it. She believed her. 

  
Kelley had flown in, deciding she was going to stay for at least the next month to make sure her girlfriend was okay.

  
She had even insisted on driving to the hospital, but Hope could sense the nervousness radiating from the shorter woman. Her leg bounced as they sat at the breakfast table and she chewed her lip while moving the pancakes around on her plate. 

  
Hope thought it was cute that her girlfriend was so worried about her. But she still took the keys away.

  
The surgery prep had taken longer than expected, and Hope would’ve liked to make sure Kelley was alright. She knew how anxious she could be.

  
When the nurses came in to let them know that Hope was ready to be wheeled into the operating room, she planted a big, sloppy wet kiss on Kelley’s lips. She was the worry there and knew that she never wanted Kelley to worry about her again.

  
Once she woke up, she saw Kelley curled up on the chair next to the window. The sunset created a glow around her. She hated to wake her up but she couldn’t wait to hear her reply as she said, “Kelley? Move in with me.”

  
Of course she said yes.

  
She didn’t even notice the pain of her shoulder.

* * *

 

She’d gotten the ring the week after Kelley agreed to be her girlfriend. She knew no one else could ever hold or take care of her heart the way her little defender did.

  
Kelley deserved a perfect proposal that she would remember forever and would make a great, romantic story. 

  
The only problem was Hope had no idea how to do that. So she left it for her future self.

  
That’s what led her to the dilemma she was in right now. She looked at the woman clinging to her body in her sleep. Kelley had begged her to take a nap with her. Hope had only agreed because she was addicted to the way Kelley slept. Holding on to her like nothing else mattered.

  
That’s when she got her idea.

  
Untangling herself from the beautifully freckled body was a challenge. Every time Hope got an appendage freed, another body part was trapped.

  
She was finally out of her grasp. She bent down and planted a calming kiss to Kelley’s forehead before sneaking out into the hallway, closing the door softly behind her.

She called Carli.

  
She was going to need more supplies.

  
After a trip to the store full of questioning looks from others due to the strange items in her cart, she got home to start setting up.

  
She crept back into their bedroom to fill it with candles and her note on the bedside table before walking back into the kitchen to start Kelley’s favorite dinner. Once the pasta was done cooking, Hope dug out her box of Christmas decorations from the garage and carefully picked out all of the lights. It was going to be perfect because that’s what Kelley deserved. 

  
She finished her set up and had just gotten back into the kitchen to check on dinner when she saw Kelley groggily join her. She wrapped her arms around Hope’s waist as she stirred the sauce at the stove.

  
“Good nap, sleepyhead?” Hope asked as she turned slightly to plant a kiss in Kelley’s hair.

  
“Mmm,” Kelley grunted as she pressed her forehead into Hope’s back. “What’s all this for?”

  
Hope chuckled. “All for you baby, you deserve it,” She punctuated her reply with a kiss to the other woman’s lips.

  
They sat down to eat, chatting about random things. Kelley brought out the wine and they sat at the couch cuddling and talking more. Hope decided it was time.

  
“Kels, there’s something I want to show you,” she hesitated. She was nervous. It got even worse as Kelley responded.

  
“Hold that thought, I’ll be right back.” Hope watched her disappear around the bend to the hallway, no time to reply before Kelley ran off. 

  
She was lost in her thoughts when Kelley came back. They smiled at each other, and Kelley stopped at Hope’s feet. She knelt down on the floor and took her hand.

  
“Kels?”

  
“Hope, I’ve been in love with you for a long time, and-” Hope leaned up to kiss her before she could say anything else. If this was what she thought it was, it couldn’t happen. She wouldn’t let the spotlight be taken off of Kelley. She tugged on her hand, making Kelley follow her up the stairs. Of course Kelley O’Hara would try to propose to her on the same night as she did,

“Hope, this is important. It’s no time for games. I love that you set up this whole thing for me. It was perfect, but I have to say this. You’ll want to hear it-trust me. It’s nothing bad, I’m not breaking up with you-” Kelley rambled as Hope led her to where they needed to go. She turned Kelley towards the window and pointed outside and the younger woman quit talking.

  
She gasped and turned towards her girlfriend. “Does that say what I think it does?”

  
Hope pulled out her ring and slipped it on to Kelley’s fingers. “Yeah. It does. I couldn’t let you steal my thunder,” Hope laughed before turning serious. “So what do you say?”

  
“God, yes,” Kelley whispered against Hope’s lips before crashing them to hers as she pulled her own ring out to place on Hope’s waiting finger. “But only if you’ll marry me too,”

  
Hope placed her forehead against Kelley’s and nodded. She held Kelley in her arms as she looked out the window again. She was glad she spent all that time arranging the lights to spell out what she wanted most.

  
_Will you marry me?_

  
She waved to Carli who had made sure to take pictures from down on the ground of the women standing in the window.

  
She couldn’t wait to show everyone those photos. 

  
She looked back to Kelley and saw the light shining in her eyes. Hope thought she’d never looked more beautiful. She looked like an angel.

* * *

 

“Ready?” Carli asked. Hope smiled. 

  
“This is the most ready I’ve been for anything in my life.”

  
Carli held out her arm for Hope to take.

She led her to the path going to the small arch in the middle of the field behind Kelley’s parents’ house. This wasn’t where they were originally going to tie the knot, they had booked a nice venue for the Spring.

  
But Hope couldn’t wait. She wanted to be Kelley’s wife now.

She shivered. She couldn’t tell if i was because of the cool, Fall breeze or the thought of finally being Kelley’s wife. She couldn’t wait to start a family and have little O’Haras running around their house. 

  
They turned around a bend and Kelley came into view. She was wearing her flowy white dress with the sunset peeking behind her.

  
Hope had never seen a more beautiful sight in her life.

  
She didn’t even notice that she was crying until Carli’s voice whispered beside her.

“She’s looking at you like the stars just aligned. You picked a good one,”

  
She’s glad Carli was there to walk you down the aisle. Hope took in her words and studied Kelley’s face as she stepped across from her. She was crying too.

  
Hope felt it in her chest, in her mind. Kelley O’Hara was her angel. She vowed to be Kelley’s.


End file.
